The Warden of The Witches-Chapter 227:

Just as Kyle began questioning him, there was a knock at the door.

“If you’re going to question him, it’d be better if everyone was present, wouldn’t it?” Aiden’s voice came from beyond the door. “I can’t hear your little whispers from out here.”

“It seems I’m not your only guest today. Go open the door,” Kyle urged the vampire count.

He had no choice but to obediently control his body, turning to open the door while Kyle kept the bayonet pressed against his back the entire time.

When the door opened, Aiden stood there, holding a gun.

“Hey, buddy, at that range, if you fire, you'll end up hitting me too,” Kyle commented.

“Let me enter first and assess the situation,” Aiden replied blankly, giving a quick glance at the headless body standing in the doorway.

Sure enough, he’s a vampire. Losing his head didn’t stop him from moving.

Earlier, when they saw this guy slipping into a narrow alley with a woman from a red-light district, Kyle had suggested they split up. Kyle would break in through the second floor to catch him, while Aiden would go in through the front of the establishment to block the door in case their target tried to escape.

Aiden had no choice but to agreed. After all, he wasn’t a lizard; scaling the second-floor window quickly wasn’t an option for him. To save the victim, he had no choice but to enter from inside the building. Since he been warned a vampire was about to attack a civilian, he couldn’t just stand by.

This little shop tucked away in an alley would normally be off-limits to outsiders. But Aiden encountered surprisingly little resistance. Though he didn’t have a police warrant, a quick flash of his gun and saying “I’m a cop” was enough to make the staff believe a wanted criminal had gone upstairs.

Since time was of the essence, procedures and jurisdictional concerns had to be set aside. As a prison guard, he wasn’t technically lying—guards were, after all, officers of the law.

What he hadn’t anticipated was how quickly Kyle had subdued the scene. By the time he reached the second floor and arrived outside the room, he already heard the sounds of surrender from within.

Aiden entered the room and snapped his fingers. Though the gas lamp’s flame didn’t change, the brightness of the room suddenly increased a notch—a simple tool of black magic that every investigator in the Inquisition Bureau carried.

“Oh, this isn’t very friendly to my eyes.”

Kyle squinted slightly, and Norse instinctively closed his eyes as well. As a night-dwelling vampire, he was even more sensitive to bright light than ordinary humans.

Aiden ignored him and went straight to check on the victim, keeping his gun pointed on Norse body.

“he’s just under a charm spell, a bit dazed. High-level vampire hypnosis isn’t much different from being tipsy—he’ll snap out of it soon enough,” Kyle explained with a grin, preparing to withdraw his bayonet.

“Hey, don’t let your guard down,” Aiden turned his head sharply.

“You’re pointing a gun at him, aren’t you?” Kyle raised an eyebrow but obediently aimed his bayonet back at Norse.

“I need to focus on assessing the situation. It’s easy to get distracted,” Aiden replied offhandedly.

Nice excuse, Kyle thought.

He could tell Aiden wanted both him and Norse positioned where he could easily take a shot if necessary.

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Aiden hadn’t fully trusted Kyle; if this whole scene was an act, and if Kyle had planned this ambush with another vampire, then Kyle, being a prince-level vampire, would pose the greatest threat to him.

After confirming the state of the woman, Aiden’s gaze shifted to the head lying on the floor.

“Turn your face toward me. Hurry up,” he commanded Norse.

With difficulty, Norse rolled his head to face Aiden, who examined him closely. The face looked vaguely familiar, like someone from a wanted list.

“You’re the fugitive he mentioned, aren’t you?” Aiden asked.

“Yes… yes, that’s me,” Norse admitted, cautiously adding, “So, um… could you both let me put my head back on? It’s a bit difficult like this.”

He didn’t dare transform his head into a bat to reattach it, nor did he want to risk moving his body to pick it up. With both weapons aimed at him, any sudden movement could cost him his life.

“We’ll put it back once we’re done questioning you,” Aiden replied. “Now answer this: are you a member of the Blood Moon Cult?”

“Yes.”

“You worship the god of death?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have any connection to the Blood Moon Cult that was active in the autonomous state five years ago?” Aiden asked, honing in on the question that mattered most to him.

“Uh… that…” Norse hesitated. “I don’t know. I only joined the cult about six months ago.”

“Playing dumb, are we? You’ve got quite a tight-lipped mouth,” Kyle chuckled, pressing his bayonet a little closer.

“It’s true! I was hiding out in Gistas when a duke suddenly approached me and persuaded me to join. Back then, they were recruiting everywhere, even handing out stored human blood…” Norse quickly explained.

Aiden mentally sorted through this information. It seemed that this Blood Moon Cult was entirely different from the one manipulated by “Mr. Blood Robe” five years ago. That group had worshipped Mephilia, the goddess of conspiracy and bearer of the “wisdom” authority—not the god of death.

“Then I suppose coming to the autonomous state was an order from the cult?” Kyle sneered. “Deny it, and I really will drive this thing in.”

If Norse denied it, Aiden wouldn’t believe him either. As the signatory location of the Covenant, the autonomous state’s Inquisition was far more active than other regions. Any fugitive heretic who came here without a special purpose was essentially courting death.

“I…” Norse paused, weighing his options, then finally answered, “I was instructed to investigate a group called the Bountiful Mother cult.”

So it’s true… Aiden thought.

It seemed that this Death-worshipping Blood Moon Cult had come following the Bountiful Mother cult—likely to help the god of death seize control of the “reproduction” authority.

But it appeared they were a step too late. The Bountiful Mother cult had already been completely annihilated in a clash with the Witches' gathering.

The Blood Moon Cult’s reverence for the god of death wouldn’t normally concern him. However, if they found out that he’d participated in the suppression of the Bountiful Mother cult, and that the corpse of Sister Nawei had once been in his possession…

“The Bountiful Mother cult?” Kyle looked somewhat surprised. “That… that cult that trafficked nuns everywhere? What’s there to investigate about them?”

“I’m not too sure either. The order I received was just to locate one of their bases of operation!” Norse replied.

Aiden suddenly sensed something was off—judging by Norse’s words, it seemed he didn’t know that the Bountiful Mother cult had already been wiped out.

And yet, Rebecca had mentioned vampires appearing near the abandoned mine…

Could it be that the vampires seen back then weren’t actually from the Blood Moon Cult?